The present invention relates to cotton harvesters and more specifically to a broadcast cotton harvester capable of harvesting a wide swath of cotton in a single pass. The present invention specifically relates to broadcast cotton harvesters using multiple header units arranged as a single header assembly wherein each header unit has a plurality of stripper bars to strip cotton from broadcast cotton stalks.
Broadcast cotton is planted differently from the way conventional cotton is planted. Conventional cotton is planted in rows usually thirty-six to forty inches apart. The seed rate in row planted cotton usually ranges from nine to sometimes twenty-five pounds per acre. This allows the amount of seed per foot of row to range from three seed per foot to as many as fifteen or more seed per foot. The problem with this style of planting cotton is that the plants are crowded into a row so that they can be harvested with a stripper row header. This crowding of the plants limits their aggregate production. Row cotton consists of a crowded row of plants and a wide space between rows that is left unproductive. However, until now, row cotton was necessary in order to harvest the crop with a minimal amount of waste.
Broadcast cotton can be planted in any width row, or even not in a row at all. The idea of broadcast cotton is to spread the plants out across the land so that ideally an even distance from one plant to the next is acquired. Plants that are evenly spread out utilize their environment better and produce better yields. Broadcast cotton has been proven to utilize water, fertilizer, and land better than row cotton. The number of plants per acre can be increased without crowding the plants. The leaf canopy of the crop keeps the ground shaded, cool, and moist. Therefore, water is utilized better because the land is shaded by the dispersed plant population. This also allows irrigation water or rain to be readily soaked into the ground and stored where the sun cannot heat the ground and evaporate the water. The leaf and plant canopy shading the ground also helps keep weeds from germinating and growing to compete with the cotton crop as a result of a lack of sunlight. The plant population of broadcast cotton will usually be double that of the row cotton for the same land quantity and quality, water availability, fertilizer application, weed control, chemicals, or other management input. The broadcast cotton plants are usually smaller than row cotton. However, cotton plants that are too large are also a problem. The small cotton plants or cotton plants that are too large combined with the random placement of the plant population has posed a problem for harvesting in the past. The broadcast cotton harvesting headers of the past have at best left much cotton unharvested and wasted in the field. Not enough growth in height of the cotton plant and too much uncontrolled growth of the cotton plant or weeds have been a major concern of the past when planting and harvesting broadcast cotton. The stripper headers of the broadcast cotton harvester of the past had to have optimum conditions in order to function at even a less than acceptable level. Weeds of any size, cotton plants that are too short or too tall, unlevel or rough ground, not enough production to push the cotton into a cotton harvester header, too much moisture in the plant stalk, cotton still too green after defoliation, or the combination of these problems with yet others have plagued the harvesting process of broadcast cotton. The theory of broadcast cotton being more productive is generally accepted by all producers, but harvesting in the past has been inefficient, difficult, and not productive.
There are discussed below various prior patents relating to harvesting combine machines.
Deutsch, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,018,938 discloses a row cotton harvester which includes eight or more brush type row units mounted on a cross auger system having a split cross auger structure with two auger portions for moving material inwardly toward a central location. Cotton is conveyed through the rear of the central location into two separation chambers, one for each auger portion, and into the lower portions of two corresponding conveying ducts which extend upwardly and outwardly at bend locations located just above the rockshaft and below the cab floor. Each duct includes a nozzle directing air upwardly above the bend location so that cotton is sucked into the bend. Garter, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,115,628 discloses a height control system for a cotton harvester which adjusts the elevation of a harvesting unit supported for vertical movement. The height control system includes a signal receiving apparatus movable within a range of movement and arranged in combination with a lift mechanism for adjusting the elevation of the harvesting unit. A signal transmitting mechanism carried on the harvesting unit for ground engagement is connected to the signal receiving apparatus for causing the lift mechanism to effect harvesting unit elevation correlated with vertical movement of the signal transmitting mechanism relative to the harvesting unit. A linkage assembly interconnects the signal receiving apparatus and signal transmitting mechanism. Mitchell U.S. Pat. No. 4,313,296 discloses a broadcast cotton stripper harvester in which cotton bolls, along the fingers of the cotton stripper, are brushed upward to the conveyor by brushes mounted upon chains which run on sprockets on either side of the fingers. The speed of the brushes along the finger is slower than the speed of the stripper along the ground and also slower than 300 feet per minute to prevent throwing the light fluffy cotton from the stripper. Jensen, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,147,016 disclose a broadcast cotton stripper harvester which comprises a cotton stripper, a plurality of cotton stripping fingers are mounted in parallel, spaced-apart relation along the length of a tube having its opposite ends secured to the opposite ends of a housing for the head of the apparatus. A different sensor mounted on each of the opposite ends of the array of stripper fingers varies one of a pair of valves accordingly. The valves are included in circuits coupled to a source of pressurized fluid so as to vary the pressure in respective ones of a pair of cylinders extending between opposite ends of the elongated tube of the head and a hollow, auger-containing housing mounted on a frame extending from a vehicle. The auger housing has opposite ends on which are pivotably mounted the opposite ends of the housing for the head. The cylinders respond to variations in fluid pressure as provided by the respective height sensors to vary the length thereof and thereby the distance between the associated end of the elongated tube and the auger housing. Variations in the distances result in twisting of the tube so as to twist or distort the generally planar array of stripper fingers which are mounted on the tube. Burris, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,927,511 discloses modifying a conventional combine harvester for the harvesting of cotton by installing a cotton stripping head on the machine platform, just as it is necessary to install a cornhead on the combine when converting the combine from a wheat harvesting to a corn harvesting operation. The stripping head takes the form of a plurality of fairly closely spaced stripping fingers which project forwardly from the front of the machine to pass beneath the cotton bolls so that two fingers are operable to pluck the boll from the main stalk as the machine is advanced across a cotton field. The fingers are mounted to extend across the entire front of the platform over a width of approximately 15 feet so that the machine is equally well adapted to the harvesting of row planted cotton or broadcast cotton or is capable of harvesting cross-wise of row planted cotton. A flail-like reel is mounted for rotation above the fingers to feed the stripped bolls rearwardly into the conventional feeder house of the combine. Bauert U.S. Pat. No. 1,368,014 discloses combs of stripper harvesters in which the teeth of the comb are adapted to have the openings between them varied to suit different crop conditions. The combs are constructed with teeth which have a fixed portion detachably secured to the comb bar and movable portion which is also detachably connected at its rear end with a reciprocable rod. At the rear of the teeth there may be fitted a sickle knife when the comb is attached to a harvesting machine in which the crop is harvested by cutting with a reciprocating knife. This type of harvester is used to harvest grain where the grain and some plant material is severed from the stalk and collected.
The above discussed patents are each incorporated herein in their entirety by this reference to them.
This broadcast cotton stripper header assembly (A) (FIG. 1) of the present invention is setup into individual header units (B) (FIG. 2) as compared to conventional broadcast headers. The principal features of the broadcast cotton stripper header of the present invention include the construction of individual header units, the frame integral height control, the shape and unique curvatures of the stripper bars (cobra bars), and the unique paddle frame and chain structures. Another feature is the addition of a unique weed sickle which helps to eliminate weeds from being a nuisance in the cotton harvesting process. These features and their working relationships make the broadcast cotton stripper header of the present invention far superior to known broadcast headers.
The broadcast cotton stripper assembly (A) is attached to a cross auger frame unit (E) which is attached to a harvester tractor (C). The tractor (C) includes a driver""s cab (F), an air duct (G) for moving stripped cotton from the cross auger frame unit (E), to the cotton collection basket (D).
The various units of the broadcast cotton stripper header assembly of the present invention provide many important features.
The Header
The header assembly (A) (FIGS. 1 and 2) can be made with a variable number of header units (B) (FIG. 2). The header assembly can contain 2 to 10 header units, preferably 4 to 6 header units, each of which header units can be 15 to 60, preferably 36 to 40 inches in width, depending on the capacity of the combine harvester used and the density, i.e. number of cotton plants, per unit area, of the cotton plants to be harvested. Each header unit can vary in width by increments of one and one half inches. This is important because the header width has a direct relationship with the crop production (high or low production). Also, the width of the header assembly can be fit to differing capacities of various models or brand names of stripper tractors (C) (FIG. 1).
Each unit of the header assembly is individually height controlled, which allows for varying ground levelness. The header unit frame itself including side plates (14) and stripper bars (20) is the height control mechanism (FIG. 4).
Each header unit has thin side plates (14) that divide the cotton plants into its individual width of swath (FIG. 3). The thinness of the side plates (14) allows the cotton plants to be parted into unit swaths, and thus not allowing the cotton plants (including stalks, cotton bolls, etc.) to be wiped over or smeared onto the ground.
A header assembly composed of several individual units is much stronger and more durable per unit than a single full width header of the same width. The individual header units make the construction of the header assembly much stronger and lighter in weight per unit and aggregate of units, than a single full width unit of the same total width. (FIG. 1).
Height Control System
Each unit of the header assembly is individually height controlled, which allows for varying ground levelness and condition. The individual header unit frame itself including side plates (14) and stripper bars (20) is the height controlling mechanism.
The bottom curvature (23) of the stripper bar (20) is the first component of the height control system (FIG. 6). The tip (21) of the stripper bar is held at a constant distance from the ground by a second curve, bottom curvature (23), in the stripper bar which is located behind the tip (21). This curve (23) slides on the ground. With the combined strength of, for example, 25 stripper bar curves (23) per unit (FIG. 5), entrance of the tips of the stripper bars into the ground does not occur in normal operation. The surface area of the second curve (23) of the stripper bars touching the ground is sufficient to float the whole header unit frame causing a second part of the height control mechanism (31-36) to work the stripper tractor hydraulics system (37) (FIGS. 4, 6 and 9).
The height control mechanism is comprised of an elliptical hole (31) in the side plates (14) of the header units (FIGS. 7, 8 and 9). The elliptical holes (31) in the side plates are placed over the support tubes (2) (FIGS. 8 and 9). The support tubes are attached to the unit""s frame structure T-bar (1) which is attached, to the cross auger mainframe unit (E) of the stripper tractor (C). The T-bar frame structure (1) holds the header units (B) in a side by side configuration to act in unison as one complete header assembly (A) (FIGS. 1 and 2). The elliptical hole (31) allows enough travel of the unit rearward in the elliptical hole (31) over the support tube (2) to trigger the height control linkage (33-35) (FIGS. 7, 8 and 9) so that it activates the hydraulics (37) (FIGS. 4, 6 and 9) of the stripper tractor (C). When the header unit hits a bump or rough ground the header unit frame is moved in the elliptical hole (31) of the side plate, and the curved portion of the rear plate (30) pushes on the linkage roller (33) to engage the hydraulic valve powered by the stripper tractor hydraulics. This raises the header unit frame and stripper bars off the ground enough to pass over the bump or rough ground and disengage the hydraulics. Gravitational weight of the header unit drops the unit down in the elliptical hole (31), thus lowering the header unit. This repeated action provides uniform, deliberate, and certain height control while lightly maintaining contact of the header unit stripper bars with the ground. This allows little or no jumping of the stripper bar tips to miss going under a cotton boll, thereby not leaving whole cotton bolls (61) in the field (FIG. 4).
Stripper Bars
The stripper bars of the broadcast cotton stripper header are uniquely formed to accomplish several purposes.
These stripper bars (20) are formed to pass under all cotton bolls (61) hanging on the stalks (62) (FIGS. 3 and 4).
Shape (22-23) of the bars keep cotton on the bars from falling over the end (21) of the bars back onto the ground (FIG. 6). This acts as an anti-drip mechanism when the cotton stripper is stopped or the header is raised from the ground and also keeps snapping cotton from flying forward onto the ground.
The stripper bars (20) part the cotton stalks (62) and strips the cotton bolls (61) from the stalk with minimal side flexibility so that whole bolls of cotton are not left on the stalk (FIGS. 3 and 4).
The shape (22-23) of the stripper bars (20) keeps the bars from directly entering the ground to prevent damage to the bars and to the header""s components (FIGS. 4 and 6).
The bars are formed to prevent the tip (21) of the bars from directly entering the ground, thereby allowing them to jump over bumps in the ground, foreign objects such as rocks, stumps or any other harmful items.
The bars (20) are formed so that they perform height control functions (FIG. 6). The shape portion (23) of the stripper bars regulates the height of the tips (21) from the ground, thereby preventing the tips (21) from entering into the ground. This provides efficient regulation of hydraulic height control. The bars (20) are formed in such a manner as to cooperate with the paddles (9) in order to facilitate the engagement of the paddles with the cotton (FIG. 4). The paddles move the cotton rearward up the incline of the bars (20), and at the same time the paddles are gradually disengaged from the cotton and release the cotton into the cross auger, not shown. The path of the paddles rearward and up the incline of the stripper bars is shown by the dotted line (25).
The stripper bars (20) are sturdily mounted to the support tube (13) of the mainframe of the unit (FIGS. 4 and 6) so they do not vary in distances apart from each other. Therefore, they do not miss whole bolls of cotton.
The top ends (24) of the stripper bars are formed in a downward curve so that they result in the disengagement of the paddles (9) with the cotton into a cross auger (not shown) in an orderly fashion (FIG. 4).
The stripper bars (20) are flat topped (FIG. 3) to allow for the loss of any contaminates such as dirt, ground-up leaves, or small stems through the spaces between the bars. The conventional broadcast headers use angle iron with the cup up, thereby feeding contaminates into the flow of cotton.
The stripper bars are mounted in such a fashion as to allow minor vertical flexibility to conform to ground unlevelness and imperfections or to pass over rocks or other objects that might otherwise harm the header units.
Paddles
The paddles (9) are mounted on a chain (8), which is carried on and rotates around a chain conveyor frame (6). The chain conveyor frame includes a front idle sprocket (27) and a rear drive sprocket (26).
The paddles (9) are made of light plate steel with two reverse bends (flexes) (9a) (FIG. 5) that form strength width wise and form a reverse cup effect that encourages the disengagement of the paddles from the cotton at the rear of the unit into a cross auger.
The paddles (9) are hinged on the chain in order to allow the perpendicular engagement of the paddle with the cotton, i.e. the paddle is parallel to the cotton stalk, at the front of the unit (FIG. 4), when the paddles first engage the cotton and is also at about the upward curve (22) of the cobra head of the stripper bars.
The paddles are controlled by natural gravity allowing a flip over at the front of the unit (FIG. 4) in order for the paddles to be about perpendicular to the stripper bars at the cotton boll engagement point.
At the cotton engagement point at the front of the unit, the paddles are held perpendicular to the chain by a combination of a chain stiffener bar (10) and a back up bar (11) (FIGS. 4 and 6). These bars allow the chain and paddle combination to wipe the stripped cotton bolls up the incline of the stripper bars (20) in a positive action and definite manner.
The chain stiffener bar (10) is a bar that is attached to the same chain link as the paddle hinges (12). When the chain (8) rotates around the front sprocket (27) of the header unit to engage the paddle with the cotton bolls, the chain stiffener bar (10) lies along the back of the chain for about the same distance or a greater distance than the radius (length) of the paddle.
The dotted line path (25) of the tip of the paddle (9) is held (controlled) by the chain conveyor with its back up bars (11) and chain stiffener bars (10) and the paddle chain frame (6). The paddles (9) are thus maintained in a position generally perpendicular to the upwardly inclined stripper bars (20). As the paddle tips move rearward up the incline (20) of the stripper bars along the dotted line (25), the distance between the tip of the paddle and the stripper bars is gradually increased so that the paddle is gradually disengaged from the cotton. This allows the cotton to be rolled down the tail end (24) of the stripper bars (cobra bars) and into a cross auger, not shown. This construction prevents the paddles from recirculating cotton over the top of the paddle chain frame (6).
The paddle behavior and line of travel relative to the stripper bars (cobra bars) is important because there is no dead or negative action area for cotton to build up and stop the flow. This construction and relationship creates a positive, aggressive, and certain cotton flow into a cross auger.
The speed of travel of the paddles is slightly slower than the ground travel rate of the machine. This ensures that the paddles are never overly aggressive in relation to the cotton stalks being stripped of the cotton bolls. Therefore, there are no thrashed cotton stalks in the cotton. The paddles, however, do become aggressive, deliberate, and certain when they are engaged with the cotton bolls and move the stripped cotton bolls rearward and upward on the inclined stripper bars.
The engagement of the paddles (9) is very deliberate and certain, yet variable to some extent depending upon the height of the cotton plant. The taller the cotton plant, the higher up the stripper bar incline the paddles become engaged into their perpendicular position to move the cotton rearward. The shorter the cotton plant, the lower on the stripper bar incline the paddles becomes engaged to move the cotton rearward.
Weed Sickle
The weed sickle (FIGS. 10-13) feature of the invention is an embodiment of the invention that is designed to reduce or eliminate the loss of productive stripping time due to the presence of weeds in the field interfering with the harvesting operation.
The weed sickle embodiment of the present invention is believed to be the first successful stripper designed to deal with the presence of weeds in the cotton crop.
The weed sickle embodiment cuts off the top of the weed and leaves the bottom base of the weed in the field.
The weed sickle embodiment eliminates weeds from being caught and building up on top of the stripper bars or between the stripper bars. A build up of the weeds may stop the efficient flow of cotton into the cross auger.
The versatility of the header assembly of the present invention is unmatched. The header assembly can be mounted on a cross auger of its own or mounted to an existing cross auger on many of known brand name stripper tractors (FIG. 1). The header assembly of the present invention with a cross auger (E) of its own would quickly attach to a stripper tractor (C) in the same manner as a row header cross auger attaches to the stripper tractor. This simple procedure includes disengaging two pins, two hydraulic lines, and the power drive line. The stripper tractor can then be backed away from the header cross auger unit and be attached to another header unit by the same procedure of putting in the two pins and hooking up two hydraulic lines and the power drive line, making the stripper ready for the field. However, in the interest of saving money in the investment of the cross auger unit, the existing row headers can be taken off of a conventional stripper tractor cross auger unit and the unit broadcast header of the present invention can be mounted in the place of the row header units of the existing stripper tractor.
The broadcast cotton stripper header of the present invention provides a competitive edge in the practices of growing and harvesting cotton through increased production yields while incurring constant or lower input costs. This is accomplished by enhanced utilization of inputs, such as land, water, fertilizer, weed control, and pest control. Also, less exposure to weather elements and seasonal market price changes are enabled in accordance with the invention by in some cases shortening the growing season by a month or more.
Producers that use this broadcast cotton stripper header will be able to cut harvesting costs by minimizing maintenance and repairs due to the durability (construction) of the header and its parts and to the slow speed at which the parts of the header move. There is relatively little or no down time to replace wear replacement parts, such as row header bats and brushes or bent or distorted components of the header. The construction of this header makes it very durable and easy to maintain.
The broadcast cotton stripper header of the present invention was created with the capability to be used on most or all of the present harvest machines, including old or new models, as well as most brands because the air ducts system of the stripper tractor are not changed. Further, the use of this header will usually not require changing the cross auger configuration of the stripper tractor.
The broadcast cotton stripper header of the present invention minimizes the waste of cotton bolls due to being left in the field. This has been accomplished by the creation and operation of the unique curvature of the stripper (cobra) bars, paddle-chain assembly, integral frame height control, and weed sickle. The flexibility and the spacing of the stripper (cobra) bars eliminates whole boll loss through gaps between the bars. Also, the unique curves of the stripper bars reduces loss of captured cotton by an anti-drip design. The cooperation of the stripper bars with the paddle-chain assembly reduces negative cotton flow situations in the harvesting process by capturing the cotton bolls, thereby minimizing waste. The slow speed of the paddle-chain assembly prevents loss of captured cotton bolls due to being thrown out of the header. The integral frame height control reduces jumping or digging of the header units to minimize the leaving of cotton bolls in the field by sampling 100 percent of the terrain imperfections for height control. The weed sickle reduces weed interference with cotton flow up the stripper bars, thereby enhancing harvest efficiency and minimizing waste.
The broadcast cotton stripper header of the present invention expedites harvesting broadcast cotton. The combination of the stripper (cobra) bars, paddle-chain assembly, efficient integral frame height control, and weed sickle enables the header to harvest high volumes of cotton, which utilizes a modern stripper tractor""s high capacity capabilities.
The broadcast cotton stripper header of the present invention obtains a clean high quality harvest. The flat top of the stripper (cobra) bar accomplishes a clean harvest by dropping contaminants, such as dirt, leaves, stems, or other foreign matter in the seed cotton, through the gaps of the stripper (cobra) bars. The slow speed at which the paddle-chain assembly moves prevents thrashing of the cotton stalks, which reduces the amount of bark in the seed cotton. Also, the non-invasive entrance of the flip paddle into the cotton maintains the integrity of the whole cotton boll without being mixed with foreign matter. The integral frame height control prevents the header from digging into the ground, thereby minimizing the collection of dirt and rocks with the seed cotton. The weed sickle insures a steady and positive flow of cotton up the stripper (cobra) bars and into the cross auger, thereby preventing unnecessary mixing and thrashing of seed cotton with foreign material.
The broadcast cotton stripper header of the present invention provides simple construction, durability and long life. The unique shape of the stripper (cobra) bars provides strength and minimal movement from side to side. The flex and reverse flex in the paddles, as well as the unit width, provide durability and strength. The slow speed of the paddle-chain assembly and the weed sickle insures long life simply by preventing wear of the moving parts, thus minimizing repair. The durability and long life of this broadcast cotton stripper header enables an operator that is capable of steering a stripper tractor to efficiently utilize this header.
A further advantage of the header assembly of the present invention is that in operation, it is significantly quieter than conventional row cotton header machines and conventional broadcast cotton header machines.
The header assembly of the present invention includes and combines the novel features of division of the header assembly into individual units, the shape and use of the stripper (cobra) bars, paddle-chain assembly with the flip paddle, integrated frame height control, and weed sickle in the harvesting of broadcast cotton.
Other advantages of the cotton stripper header assembly will become readily apparent by the following description of the invention.